Die and tap wrench



May 23, 1939. WE T 2,159,680

DIE AND TAP WRENCH Filed April 25, 1938 INVENTOR. CHARLES W W557 ATTORNEY.

V UNITED STATES PATENT orr cs lll ElA ND TAP WRENCH" Charles Wes t, Burlingame, Calif. Appli'cation April 25, 1938, Serial No. 204,065

' 2 Claims. 401.10-123) invention relates to taps and dies as used frequently the length of the wrench or stock hanl for cutting threads and has for its principal obdles interferes with the turning of the die or tap Ject an improved tap and die wrench or holder in confined position of use.

to facilitate the work of a machinist in using taps In my improved form of tap and die wrench all x5 and dies. 7 r the disadvantages of the common tap and die l Another object of the invention is to provide an wrench are overcome and several advantages i xnproved form of tap and die wrench which will added.

enable the machinist to more accurately guide My improved wrench, as shown in the drawing,

the tap or die axially in the hole or rod to be comprises a body I provided with a hand wheel u f p threaded when using the tools entirelyby hand. or hand gripping rim 2 formed very deeply 1Q Another feature is the provision of means on knurled or roughened on its exterior as at 3, and 1 the wrench to cooperatewith a lathe tail or head provided on its front side with a central hub 4 taper center for guiding the tap or die. formed with a bore or socket 5 to receive a comnother feature is the provision of means on men solid or split threadingdie 6 which seats j the wrench for centering and guiding the same against an inner shoulder 1 formed in the bore. 135 by a tail plateon the lathe tail stock. U The die is held in place as by one or more set Another feature is to provide for the extrusion screws 8 passing through the sideof the hub. of metal chips from the threading die into the i The rear side of the hand wheel 2. is formed lathe center without releasing the pressure of with an axially projecting flange or bead 9 somethe center against the wrench. what smaller than the gripping rim 2 and is hol- 2O Still another feature is the provision of means lowed out in a beveled manner as indicated at l 1 for nesting a plurality of the die holders so that to form a flat inner seat H, and which seat is various sizes may be stored each with a die in counterbored with a tapering hole as at l2 to place for immediate use. meet the reduced size parallel bore which forms Other features and advantages will appear the shoulder I for seating the die. 25 from the following description and in the ac- The fiat seat H is for the purpose of fitting *l companying drawing. against a fiat tail plate on a lathe formed of a In the drawing: diameter to just fit within the recess [0, and lf'f igure l is a perspective iew of my improved which may be similarly beveled, and the beveled wrench with a threading die in place. tapered hole I2 is for the Purpose Of fitting t Figure 2 is a substantially full size longitudinal up n a standard ath center. or p e r y a cross section of the wrench and its die, and showhollow lathe center as indicated at l3 so that the ing an adjacent hollow lathe center. rod being threaded by the die (while held in the i i .Figure 3 is a reduced size view showing a stack chuck 0f the lathe) can p 111110 the a Stock i or my die wrenches nested and marked exteriorly bore s ca t e metal 0 1 5 aIS On the front face of the hand wheel is a cir- Figure 4 is aside View of my im r v d wr ch cular ledge H) of a diameter to fit freely within w thportion broken away showing a top chuck in the rear recess ID of another similar die holder so it place. i that several of the'devices, each complete with its Before describing the invention in detail,.my e in p may be Stacked nested as indi- 40 H s 4 new die and tap wrench may be "said to be devised cated in Figure 3, d wherem e s p rate estto take the place of the common tap wrench and ed devices respectively designated A to I die stock which, as wellkno-wn, consists of a pair The depth of the recess is P a y S as or aligned handles or straight bar with a socket to entirely receive the hub 4 of an adJacent holder for size of thread.

In tapping or threading with'such When the device is used as a tap wrench as tap in place. shown in. Figure 4, the hub 4' may be somewhat atap wrench or die stock where no guides are H 1 p v as withpipe threading diestocks, great smaller in diameter than when bored to receive N carehas to be used tokeep the wrenchhandles at a and o the bore s s u y fitted the I A *right angles to the axis of the article or hole beo h d or shank is of a suitable tap chuck 5o 1 ing threaded so that the thread will run true. ll into which the tap I8 is gripped. The shank Also whenthreading items on alathe with the IS of the chuck is preferably taper-bored at its aid of a' common tap wrenchor die stock no inner end as at 19 to continue the taper bore I2 means is provided for cooperation with the tail of the holder so as to receive a lathe center if between the ends of thebar'to secure the die or when nestedi center or plate for centering the wrench. Also desired.

If round or hexagonal articles, or other shaped articles which can easily be centered in a lathe chuck are being tapped, the hand wheel wrench may be centered against the .tail stock plate, or standard taper center as explained for the die holder form of the device, or in either case the flat outer edge of flange 9 may rest against a larger tail plate on the lathe and the device forced along by the tail stock either by screwing or simply pu'shing the same toward the work, while holding the large hand wheel 2 with one hand to prevent its turning.

The large round hand wheel provides for easily spinning the device to back out of a tapped hole or threaded rod, especially if done on a lathe, and as the outer surfaces of the knurled protuberances 3 are preferably of relatively large size as indicated in Figure 4, the device may readily be gripped and centered in a lathe chuck if desired.

While it is obvious that various size threading dies of a given outer diameter are interchangeable in the socket of the holder, it will be handier for shops doing much threading to provide a dozen or more for the generally used dies and taps, and always leave them in their holders, and to facilitate finding the proper die when several are stacked as in Figure 3, I provide a blank space 20 on the knurled rim, either flush with the outer surface of the knurling or depressed-so as toreceive stamped in figures designating the size of the die as indicated at Z! in Figure 1.

While the drawing shows the device in full size as I have found most convenient in connection with the ordinary small taps and dies, and while I prefer to make the device of aluminum for lightness and proof against rusting, no limitation is to be implied thereby. 1

Also, while I show and prefer that the hand wheel be round and with a cylindrical exterior so that it may be more easily held in a lathe chuck if desired, the gripping rim may be hexagonal, octagonal, or otherwise formed, while still yielding some of the advantages of the invention as above set out.

The use of this device by me in practical work shows it to be outstanding in facilitating the way to store these tools is to nest the tap and die holders together in pairs for each size thread. For ordinary threading and tapping with small dies and taps, the device of Figure l or 2 is simply held and turned by a grip on the hand wheel rim, the relatively large diameter of the rim serving as an effective right "angle guide to the axis of the thread being cut.

I claim:

1. A threading die holder comprising a hand Wheel provided with a hub on one side formed to receive the die and provided with means for securing the same in place, the opposite side of said hand wheel formed with a recess adapted to nest over the hubbed side of the hand wheel when a plurality of the devices are stacked.

2. A threading die holder including a relatively large cylindrical body portion having a knurled band extending around its periphery, a relatively small hub projecting from the forward end of said body axially thereof, said body having a circular recess extending from the rear end of the body forwardly and terminating in a plane surface, said body further having a bore axial of the hub and extending from the recess to open through the forward end of the hub, the bore having its rear end of frusto-conical form with the apical angle of the cone equalling the standard angle for lathe centers.

CHARLES W. WEST. 

